K'Andre Miller is reportedly departing the New York Rangers, but he is staying close to them. According to multiple reports, the Blueshirts' RFA defenseman is heading to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Hearing NYR working on sending K'Andre Miller to Carolina
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) July 1, 2025
Right now the hang-up is that Miller is working on an extension with the Hurricanes to officially complete the trade.
As Carolina and the New York Rangers finalize a K'Andre Miller trade, the #hurricanes are working on an extension with the RFA, per sources
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) July 1, 2025
Miller was drafted by the Rangers 22nd overall at the 2018 NHL Draft. He's appeared in 368 games with the Blueshirts and in that span had posted a line of 36-96-132. During the 2024-25 season Miller appeared in 74 games and had 27 points, and it was a decline from the 30 points and 43 points he tallied in the two prior years.
The Rangers made a clear choice to sign someone like Vladislav Gavrikov to take his roster spot, and you may be wondering why they are moving Miller. It is possible they could have dumped Carson Soucy and ran it back with Miller, but it appears there was no desire to do so.
When he's at the top of his game, Miller is a legitimate game changer. He is a gifted skater capable of going end-to-end on offense, and is adept at getting back on the play to make defensive stops. His major problem this past season was turnovers, as he gave the puck away 97 times after taking it away just 47 times. That 97 number is way up from the 34 he had a year prior, and represents the worst of his career. Miller gave the puck away 68 times in 2022-23, but also took it away 61 times. These metrics aren't everything, but just speak to the nature of his game recently.
Here's a look at recent underlying numbers via Evolving-Hockey.
2024-25: 48.12 GF% | 49.87 CF% | 48.29 xGF%
2023-24: 45.11 GF% | 48.81 CF% | 47.34 xGF%
2022-23: 50.38 GF% | 52.08 CF% | 49.08 xGF%
Miller still has a ton of potential, and it would have been great to see him get a chance under new head coach Mike Sullivan, but it appears that wasn't in the cards.
We are still waiting on more information, so stay tuned for more details when they become available. The Rangers have added at least $7 million to their salary cap with the addition of Gavrikov, so in the interim it represents a nearly $2.5 million increase from what Miller would have made on his qualifying offer.